Easy snail craft for children – printable play dough mat

This cute snail play dough play mat printable is perfect if you’re learning about animals or doing a spring unit. As children play they can chat about their snail and they’ll be building their fine motor skills too.

Snail play dough mat printable

Play dough mats are such a useful piece of kit, at home and in the classroom.

I love being able to use The Amazing Play Dough Printables Pack for each topic we’re learning about. I can simply print a mat, add playdough, and I have an instant invitation to play which develops language skills, promotes imaginary play, and boosts fine motor skills. 

With 180 pages and over 50 themes and topics in The Amazing Play Dough Printables Pack, I’m all organised for the whole year. No hassle, no planning, no prep = just print and play. I love it!rMeet our snail!

Let’s take a look at one of the play dough mats from the Animal Play Dough Mats section of The Amazing Play Dough Printables Pack today, and I’ll share some of the ways you can use it with your children.

Meet our lovely snail!

How to use this snail play dough printable

You can print as many copies of the snail play mat as you need for your family, group or class. You’ll find it in the Animals section of The Amazing Play Dough Printables Pack.
You might like to laminate the printable so you can use it time and time again.

Set out the play mat with some homemade play dough, and perhaps some extra loose parts, and invite your children to play.

Can they use play dough to give their snail a shell?

Alternatively, you can set out the play mat with markers and invite your children to draw in the snail shell.

These play mats are amazing!

:: the printable play mats in The Amazing Play Dough Printables Pack are an excellent ‘spark’ for imaginative play, providing a play-prompt which children can then develop in their own way

:: the mats encourage storytelling and language skills, as children narrate their play

:: play dough is an excellent fine-motor skill activity, helping to develop dexterity and hand strength. Just think about the movements involved in kneading the play dough, rolling out a long ‘sausage’, and coiling it up to create the snail’s shell. It’s such a great work out for wrists, hands, and fingers.

:: children can play solo, making these a great quiet-time activity, or in pairs or small groups, building teamwork skills and helping children learn to collaborate and co-operate

:: the mats in The Amazing Play Dough Printables Pack also make a great backdrop to small worlds and puppet shows, and work as drawing prompts too. They’re great for rainy days and car journeys, and for transition times such as after school or while you’re making dinner.

How to print this play dough mat

Click here to get your copy of The Amazing Play Dough Printables Pack, and you’ll find the snail play mat in the Animals section, along with printables featuring fish, cats, dinosaurs, pigs, owls, bees, bunnies and more. 

The Amazing Play Dough Printables Pack gives you over 180 pages of printables, covering over 50 topics and themes, so you’ll have ready-to-play resources for every week of the year. 

The play dough mats cover math and literacy activities; festivals including Christmas, halloween, and Chinese New Year; and many themes including pizzas, space, snowmen, castles, gingerbread men, the weather, monsters, flowers and multicultural faces. 

The Amazing Play Dough Mats are fun, educational, and so quick to set up.

You will always have something for your kids to do! And as they play, your children are building fine motor skills, developing their language, and boosting their creativity and imagination.

Add this fantastic resource to your kit:

Click here to get your copy of The Amazing Play Dough Printables Pack.